Now I Dream in Color
by pajamy party
Summary: Soulmate AU/ After soulmates touch, they are able to see color. Amy fell in love with her grandmother's stories of her grandfather, but how is she going to handle a life where she knows who she was made for?
1. Prologue

When I was a little girl, I spent my night listening to my grandmother's attempts to describe colors. She'd tell me about the time she first met my grandfather as my mother braided my long hair for the night.

"Mija, it was magical. One second everything is dull but it was fine. Then, I blinked and everything suddenly burst with life. No two shades were exactly the same and when I looked at the man who had just touched me, I knew he was seeing this incredible display of life as I was," she would tell me.

I would always sigh and dream of the day that I would meet my soulmate for the first time and have my perception of everything altered.

Everyone was familiar with the idea that one day they might be lucky enough to see in color and know who they were made for, but the system had some flaws.

Luckily, there seemed to be a pattern in whatever cosmic force decided who was meant to be with who. Firstly, soul mates were never more than five years apart in age. Secondly, they weren't related. Finally, and most importantly, their paths were destined to cross at least once in their lives.

As populations grew, more and more problems arose with the old system. Sometimes soulmates would be born thousands of miles apart and their paths would cross only once, in a busy airport, for instance, and before the two people could introduce themselves they would be whisked away by the crowd and they'd never met. Sometimes a baby would meet touch their soulmate before they even left the hospital, and they would float through life trying to find others who were lost and figure out who their match was, or not even know that they saw all the colors because they never saw in monotone.

Luckily, with modern technology came new ways to reconnect these lost pairs. Children would be administered tests in school to see if they had made initial contact or not, and desperate adults would post the approximate time and place they made initial contact on forums in hopes their soul mate would be searching the same places looking for them as well.

Even still, there were people who would reject their match. People would lose faith that soul mates existed and begin to date others. Others would grow up in a family that rejected certain types of love – like two people of the same gender or two people of different races. They'd make initial contact and jump out of their skin when they realize who they were made for and simply run for the hills.

Even so, my grandmother lived a happy life with my grandfather before he passed away years ago. She raised me to always have faith in the universe's plan for me. My mother, however, had not made her initial contact and had grown bitter with the passing years. She taught me to live my life as I wanted to and to never depend on some silly tale about true love.

When I reached my teenage years and began to develop my perspective on things, I realized both of my influential forces had valid points.

I sat with my best friend, Kylie, as she cried her eyes out one late night in our sophomore year. She told me she touched a girl in geometry and her world burst into color. When she asked the girl, named Savannah, if she saw this as well, and Savannah just stared at her like she was crazy. Somehow, the universe messed up and Savannah was Kylie's soulmate but Kylie was not hers.

I took this in stride and lived with a little more caution. I studied hard and tried not to focus too much on making contact with as many people as possible. Years passed by me quickly but I took little notice of all my peers who had made their initial contacts and were busy falling in love.

There were some particularly exhausting nights where I would lay in bed, unable to sleep, and simply daydream about how my initial contact might happen. Maybe I'd be sick and they would bring me soup or maybe I'd look drop dead gorgeous and they would kiss me right then and there.

The first week of college brought our campus three new couples – which was impressive. Six people had found the love of their lives in just seven days. I admit I was jealous, but a new school year brought more work to do and more goals to meet.

One thing I did not realize, though, was it also brought a lot of people who I had yet to meet.

* * *

 **Hey again! I'm trying something a little different with this story - I'm going to upload a few chapters at a time. Hopefully, you guys will like it. I've had so much fun writing this story so far and I love playing around with the idea of soulmates. I read a story about B99 that was also a soulmate au and I can't find it for the life of me - if any of you know about it just shoot me a message and I'll totally give them a shoutout because I _loved_ that story. **


	2. First Day of College

"Okay, I think that's the last box," I said, setting the moving box down on my bed. I smiled at my best friend, who was unpacking our sheets and the laundry detergents. "I'll go move the car."

"Have fun. Don't get lost," she said. I assumed it was a joke, but it was our first day here and it was a strong possibility.

It was nice to see all the people walking around and enjoying their first taste of a parent-less existence. There were people with boxes stacked higher than their eye lines and others just mingling with all the new people at their disposal.

The parking lot was absolutely jammed, and it took a ridiculously long time to find a place to park. I filled a spare grocery bag with some trash, and grabbed my trusty teddy bear and made my way back to the dorm room.

As I was passing a rather large great oak circled in by a brick walkway, I was flagged down by the only other person in the immediate area.

"Hey, do you know where the three thousand building is?" he asked, running up to me.

"Uh, one second," I said, tossing my makeshift garbage bag into a nearby can. I pulled out the map I'd been toting around in my back pocket all morning and handed it to him.

"So, it's your guys' first day too?" he asked as he unfolded it. I looked around trying to find out who the other person he was referring to was. He laughed and pointed at the old stuffed animal I was hugging to my body.

"Oh," I said with a laugh. "Yeah, pretty crazy, huh? My best friend and I have been unpacking since like, eight this morning."

"I don't even know where my dorm is," he teased. "Psych, it's right there," he said, pointing to a brown rectangle on my map.

"Hey, we're pretty close together," I said, pointing to my brown rectangle. Our dorms surrounded a circular courtyard of sorts, and we were apparently on the same half of the circle.

"Neat. The three of us should have a sleepover sometime." He must've noticed that I looked confused because he quickly added, "meaning you, me and that bear."

I laughed again. "Okay, well I'm Amy, and this is Jorge."

"I'm Jake, and I believe we've got to head this way," he said as he started walking towards our dorms. I couldn't help but notice how cute he was and I enjoyed his confidence. His eyes seemed so full of warmth and love.

"So, Jake, where are you from?"

"Brooklyn. My mom wanted me to get out of the city for college. I'm quite the troublemaker," he confessed. "What about you?"

"I'm from around here. I didn't want to stray too far from home just yet. Plus, traffic sucks," I pointed out.

"What are you studying?"

"I'm not totally sure yet. I think I want to do something in like, criminology but I'm also a tad interested in art, you know?"

"No way! I want to be a detective," he told me, looking at me with the cutest smile. I felt myself blush at this expression, and quickly averting my gaze.

"Oh, have you met your roommate yet?" I asked noticing that we were approaching the circle of dorm buildings.

"I have absolutely no clue who I'm staying with," he said. "I just want to figure out where the damn place is before I start carrying boxes."

"I admire your carefree spirit, Jake. But, Jorge and I have to help do laundry so hopefully, I'll see you around."

"See you then, I suppose," he said, walking towards his building and waving as he turned away from me.

I hugged my gray bear to myself and smiled into his head. I couldn't help but notice that Jake and I had not touched at all during our encounter.

A few hours later, Kylie and I were getting ready for the orientation campfire the school hosts for the freshman. A sort of 'get to know you' type thing.

Getting ready with Kylie was always extremely difficult because she would always laugh at my attempts to create an outfit with a decent color scheme. I had pulled out a light gray tank top and a flannel with a pair of jean shorts and she simply laughed at me.

"Honey, you're wearing an orange tank top with a blue flannel. That's so tacky," she said as she threw another flannel at me. I quickly changed and put on some flats.

"Stop picking on me," I groaned. "But thank you for making sure I look nice to all those that can see colors that I can't."

"Anytime. It's nice to have something to consistently laugh at."

During the walk over to the open field that would host the bonfire, we met a football player from our old school.

"Terry, oh my god!" Kylie squealed, before running over to him. I followed suit, and we shared a brief group hug.

Terry, unlike most other sporty guys, had no issue with affection. He loved hugs and even threw an arm around the two of us as he walked. He began telling us about his summer, and I tuned him out briefly.

I watched all the other students as the crowd around us inevitably grew bigger upon approaching the field. There were some faculty members instructing the crowd were to go, and smiling as everyone had their own little reunions with high school friends. A lot of my old classmates had decided to go here since the school was decent and close by, but it was nice to see new faces.

We got to the field as the sun finally dipped below the horizon and Kylie went off to get some seats on the bleachers as I went and got us some popcorn from a small vender's cart.

When I found my best friend again, I couldn't help but notice that she had somehow sat next to the cute boy I ran into earlier. He was eagerly talking to two girls next to him and I didn't want to interrupt him, so I just took a seat next to my best friend.

Everyone began to settle down, and some teachers were attempting to start a fire before all of us. Then, a group of people began to freak out around two hugging girls on the grass.

"They see colors!" someone yelled.

"They're soul mates!" another cheered.

Everyone clapped for a moment, and I was genuinely happy for them until I noticed the expression on my friend's face.

"Oh, Mija, I'll be your soulmate," I told her, as I hugged her tightly. She squeezed my arm loosely.

"It just sucks, babe."

"I know."

"What am I going to do when you start seeing colors?"

"I'll gouge out my eyes so I'll still need you to help me get dressed all the time," I said as I kissed the side of her head. She laughed a little, and I felt her relax as a woman started speaking before everyone.

"Hello everyone!" she said with a tight-lipped smile. "I'm headmaster Wuntch and I'd just like to welcome all of you to our wonderful little university."

"I'm going to make so many Wuntch-Lunch puns, holy shit," Jake murmured next to us and I snorted.

"Oh my god, Amy!" he said as he looked at the source of the laugh. "What are the odds?"

I laughed, still embracing my best friend. I refocused back on my new headmaster. She went off on a spiel about her expectations for us and how she was excited to have us all here, but the entire time she seemed to fake her cheeriness.

Not long after she finished her speech the flames finally ignited and everyone filed out of their places so they could properly mingle with their new class mates. I held my popcorn tightly as the crowd shuffled around me and I struggled to keep up with Kylie. When I did, I found her talking to Jake and his two friends.

"Oh, there she is," Jake said, and Kylie took my popcorn from me. I smiled at her.

"You feeling okay?" I asked her quietly, and she nodded.

"Anyways, this is my friend Rosa," he said as he motioned to the scarier of his two friends. "She also wants to do detective work. And the other girl is Gina. She's kind of along for the ride at the moment."

I laughed, and gave an awkward, "Hi, I'm Amy."

"It's pretty crazy that some soulmates met on the first day," Gina mused, picking at her nails.

"Yeah, are you two soulmates?" Jake asked, looking between me and Kylie.

"No," I said, looking at my best friend whose mouth was full of popcorn.

"Really? But you're so mushy gushy with her," he pressed.

"I just love her a lot," I defended.

"Besides, I have a flop mate," she grunted before walking away.

"Kylie," I groaned, watching her go. The three people I had just met looked at me for an explanation, and I sighed.

"A few years ago she touched a girl and she saw colors but the girl, nothing changed for her. She gets bent out of shape when some people make initial contact or they ask her about her match," I explained awkwardly.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry."

"Nice going, Jakey. You just met her and you already messed up," Gina snorted.

"It's not your fault, sometimes things just happen. I really should go find her, though," I said, backing away from the group.

"Tell her I'm sorry," he insisted as I slowly burst into a run headed towards the dorms.


	3. Forensic Science

It didn't take long for me to find Kylie and to slowly coax her into going to bed. I told her she'd feel better in the morning and that no one meant any harm by what happened, thankfully she listened to me without argument.

She was back to her bubbly self by the morning. We got ready together and headed off to class. My first class was Intro to Forensics, and I was excited to be among the first to arrive.

The setup reminded me of high school – a teacher stands at the front and students sit at lab tables. However, the room was much bigger, and lab tables could comfortably fit eight students at them. They had stools tucked neatly underneath them, and a large sink in the middle that could be covered easily.

I took a safe seat in the second row of tables, but on the edge closest to the teacher. I figured here I would be far enough away to be able to talk occasionally but I'd still be able to expect some serious partners.

As more and more students filed in, the girl I recognized as Rosa took the seat next to me.

"Hey," I greeted her, glad to see a familiar face.

"I don't like small talk," she asserted. I blinked twice, before accepting this as my fate for this class and turned around. Right before the teacher was about to close the doors, Jake burst in and took the only empty seat left at our table.

"I'm Professor Raymond Holt," the teacher's voice sounded, and I quickly turned around to face him. "I was a detective with the NYPD for twenty-five years, and now I am teaching to pass my knowledge along to other students. In my class, you can expect to learn the proper way to collect, label and process evidence, as well as several tactics for evaluating a crime scene. We will also do several dissections to familiarize you with the organs humans have." He continued to talk to the class and simultaneously intimidate each one of us.

Somewhere during the course of the teacher's introduction to the course, Jake had switched his seat and was at my right hand when I turned around.

"How did you do that?" I asked quietly, pulling out my notebook.

"I'm very convincing," he said with a smirk. "Also, the guy on the other side of Rosa wouldn't switch."

I strangely felt a little hurt that I wasn't his first choice, but I fully understood that he had likely known Rosa longer.

"How's Kylie doing?" he asked, resting his chin on his palm.

"She's fine," I reassured him, beginning the assignment Professor had instructed us was due at the start of our next class with him. "She's very eager to start class."

"How's Jorge?"

"He's great. He started the night at the foot of my bed but somehow ended up on the floor. He said there's no hard feelings, though."

This time, he had laughed, and it echoed through my head for a second. "You're cute, Amy."

I blushed, and quickly returned to the reading we had to do.

"So how many of you know what color this is?" someone across the table asked, holding up a notebook. All I could tell is that it was a light color – since it was only a little gray.

"Pink," Rosa replied.

"Okay, so out of eight people only two people know their soulmates on their first day of college?" Jake asked.

"Seems that way," I replied.

The people around me started talking about how their parents met, but I just tuned them out, focusing on my work. Santiago style.

We were dismissed roughly an hour after the class began, and I barely made it out the door before I heard Jake calling after me.

"Where's Rosa?" I asked once he caught up with me.

"She's meeting up with Charles."

"Charles?"

"Oh, right. Charles is Rosa's match," he explained. I nodded and kept walking.

"Where are we going?" he asked, matching my pace.

"I wanted to check out the lake," I told him.

"Oh cool." I didn't mind him inviting himself on my voyage to the nearby lake, in fact, I was actually happier that he was coming along. I was eager to see the tulips that bloomed this time of year and I knew they had planted significant amounts near their lake.

It wasn't a particularly long trip, and once we got there, we headed for the gazebo that loomed over the water. I sat on the bench that lined the inside of the octagon, and began to pull out my textbook.

"Oh, come on Amy, you just got that assignment. Can't you relax now?" he prodded, sitting across from me. I sighed and decided he had a point.

"Okay. Fine. What do you want to talk about, Jake?"

"I noticed you didn't talk in class. What's up with that?"

"Oh. I just don't really focus on finding my match, you know? I can't really control it and there'd be little point in going around and essentially feeling every person I met."

"That's true," he said with a laugh. "After Rosa and Charles met I went a little crazy trying to find mine. I'd hit up these little conventions where everyone makes two circles and basically shakes hands and the inner circle rotates after a few seconds. It was so sad."

"My mom hasn't met her match so she's always said that I should focus on school. My grandma, however, loved my grandpa so much and I used to listen to her stories like they were a fairy tale come true. I guess I took more after my mom after Kylie's incident."

"Yeah, that really sucks what happened to her. I can't imagine being in that situation. But isn't it kind of crazy that we meet so many people every day and both of us haven't found our match?"

"I guess. But we're still young. Besides, we may meet a lot of people but that doesn't necessarily mean we touch them."

"Nah. I'm absolutely positive I've touched every single person I've met," he bragged.

"So you touched every person at our table today? Or everyone in the classroom? Everyone you've ever passed?"

"Absolutely," he lied.

"You're full of it," I teased.

"Maybe so," he said and smiled. I swear I felt my insides melt.


	4. Coffee Date

I didn't see much of Jake until our next class at Professor Holt's. By that time, two more couples had made initial contact and I had spent most of my nights avoiding the outside world and comforting my best friend as well as nursing a pretty killer headache.

"Where have you been?" he asked as he made his way to his seat.

"Sorry, Kylie's had a rough week," I replied, pulling out my books.

He sighed, but I knew he couldn't come up with a rebuttal without sounding like a complete jerk.

"How was your first week?" I asked him, pushing my glasses up my nose a little.

"Pretty mediocre. I've had fun, but I can't seem to get rid of this awful migraine," he said. I looked up at him and noticed the slight bags under his eyes.

"I feel you," I said, giving him a sympathetic smile.

"You had one too?" he asked, his eyebrow raising.

"I guess. It was pretty awful; I could barely get out of bed this morning. I guess the aleve is finally kicking in because I don't feel it now."

"Same," he said with a laugh. "Kind of wei-."

He was cut off by our teacher asking for our attention, then he began to talk pretty much an entire hour. I'm not complaining, though; I was completely engaged the entire time. So much so that once the lecture was over, I had to endure teasing from my newest friend.

"You're such a teacher's pet, Amy, it's hard to believe," Jake teased as we walked out of the building together.

"Yeah, whatever. At least I've never really gotten into trouble," I replied.

"Hey, what are you doing right now?" He asked, changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at him.

"Do you want to get some coffee or something?" he asked, his voice rarely serious.

"Oh, sure. Do you know a place?"

He grinned at me, and we began heading off towards the quad. He began talking to me about Charles and Rosa and kept insisting I should swing by his dorm sometime so he could introduce me to Charles, who bunked next door.

He was so effortlessly confident and I found myself admiring him in a way I had never admired someone before. I took notice of the way the ends of his hair curled slightly, and how he had dimples that hid in his laugh lines.

He swung open the door to the coffee shop and held it open for me. I found myself blushing at this simple courtesy, and suddenly became hyper-aware of the fact that we had yet to touch.

We ordered two lattés and took a table near a window.

"Tell me about your family," he said once we settled.

"Oh, um," I said, a little thrown off. "Well, I lived with my mom and grandmother. But, I have seven brothers who all live with our dad. He didn't really know what to do with a girl, so my mom was successful at getting custody."

"Why'd they separate?"

"They weren't soulmates, so one day my dad saw colors and he knew he couldn't stay with her."

"That's sad," he mumbled.

"Yeah. My mom's parents were soulmates, though."

"How'd they meet?" he asked, resting his chin on his palm and smiling at me.

I laughed nervously, "Well, he was a soldier and she was a field nurse. One of his buddies had gotten injured in a battle, and he came to check on him the first moment he could. My grandma says that he was trying to hand her a box of gauze from a shelf when their fingers grazed each other's and then everything basically exploded with color."

"Did they love each other?"

"She loved him a lot. She would tell me stories every night," I explained as a waitress came over and gave us our coffees.

"Did he love her?" he asked, grabbing his spoon and slowly stirring his drink.

"I think so. He died when I was little, so I don't remember any of his stories." I looked down at my coffee and noticed the foam was poured in to form a heart. I smiled a little and made eye contact with Jake.

"Can I ask you something?" I pressed.

"Sure."

"Is this a date?"

He looked at me, and then at our coffees and our absence of friends. "I guess so," he replied.

"So you've kind of given up on finding your match right now?" I teased.

"Yeah, why not? They'll find me eventually."

"So you're okay dating even if you know they aren't going to be there forever?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

"I guess so. Plus, we don't know yet," he answered.

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know we haven't touched yet, Ames."

"Oh," I mumbled, blushing a little at the name he called me. I tucked hair behind both of my ears at the same time, and lift my cup to my lips.

"What do you think of the coffee?" he asked eagerly once I set my mug back on its plate.

"It's great, you have great judgment," I told him honestly.

"Yeah, and I like the vibe this coffee shop has going on," he said with a prideful smile.

"Tell me about your family," I instructed after a second of silence.

"Not that much to say. I live with my mom, too. No siblings and no dad. However, I did have a fish for a little while. We named him Reginald. Do you have any pets?"

"Nah. My grandma doesn't like cats and I'm allergic to dogs," I admitted.

"That's gotta suck."

"It really does," I said as I went for another drink of my coffee. "I mean, I see all these cute dogs everywhere and I want to pet them but I know my throat will close if I do so I've had to deal with a dog-free existence."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to get a snake or a turtle," he joked. We finished off our coffee pretty quickly, and there was rarely a second where one of us was not smiling. After we finished he began to walk me back to the dorm circle.

"Wait, Ames," he said, stopping in his tracks.

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?" he asked, looking me in the eyes. I tried to decide if he was joking or not, but then I felt myself subconsciously nodding and suddenly I was pressed against a wall.

I had been kissed before, but never like this. He tasted like coffee and he held my cheek as we stood there melting into one another. I ran my hand through his hair, and let out a small noise. Everything inside of me burned and it seemed like everything I'd experienced prior to this paled in comparison.

When we separated it was like something inside of me clicked as I opened my eyes. Everything that was various shades of gray before was now vibrant with what I assumed to be color. I gasped, taking in all the changes.

I knew Jake was seeing it too because he turned around and whispered a quick, "Holy shit."

Everything was so rich and vibrant and there was this one color that was so warm I wanted to wrap myself up in it.

"Jake, how did you know that would work?" I asked softly.

"Shot in the dark," he replied, turning around to face me.

"This is crazy," I whispered to him, and he nodded with a small smile.

"But it's so cool," he replied breathlessly.

"Flowers," I whispered, suddenly remembering that they were supposed to be one of the most beautiful things in the world. I grabbed his hand and started running towards the lake.

I could hear him laughing behind me and commenting on how things looked and I could hear the amazement in his voice. We got to the lake and I sat at the flowerbeds, utterly astounded.

"Jake, oh my god," I breathed as he sat down. He grinned, and took my hand, interlacing our fingers.

Tulips that had previously been dull grays were now countless colors that blended into one another. I found myself crying just at the sheer amazement I was experiencing. Even the grass, which was just carpets of gray was so complex in its colors.

When I looked at Jake I saw he was also tearing up, and I pulled him closer to me.

"Thank you," I whispered against his lips, quickly kissing him again.

"Why are you thanking me?" he asked with a laugh. I shrugged a little, finding humor in my logic as well.


	5. Kylie

"Hey, Kylie, do you remember Jake?" I asked, sitting on my bed and playing with Jorge.

"Yeah. What about him?" she questioned as she wrung out her hair with a towel.

"Uh, don't freak out," I cautioned. She stopped immediately and her eyes widened.

"What did he do?"

"He kissed me," I said.

"And?"

"What's this color called?" I asked softly, holding up Jorge. "It's different than this color," I said as I motioned to my bed sheets.

"Oh my god, Amy," she gasped. "You can see colors?"

I nodded a little. "Are you mad?"

"What? No!" She sat on the bed next to me. "I'm so happy for you, Amy. But, how did you manage to know your match for like, a week, before you guys touched? And the initial contact was a kiss?" She

"Yeah, isn't that crazy?"

"That's so romantic," she squealed. "Oh my god, I can teach you guys the names of the colors."

"You'd do that?" I asked her. The person who taught a couple the names of colors was always supposed to be a big deal – it was on the same level as asking someone to be a maid of honor or a best man at a wedding.

"Of course I would," she insisted. "What was it like?" she asked, her eyes twinkling as she looked up at me.

"Oh god, it was incredible. All the stories I've heard and all the movies I've seen have not done it justice," I told her.

"And how did you guys manage to go so long without making contact? Like, you guys were already friends."

"I don't know," I told her. "I guess I already, kind of, knew. I've never really been attracted to people, and from the first moment, I saw him I couldn't stop thinking about how cute he was. Remember when we stayed in for a few days because I had a headache and you weren't feeling the happiest?"

She nodded.

"I didn't see or talk to him at all those days and when I saw him again he told me he'd had a headache as well. It physically hurt to be away from him, and chalking it up to mere coincidence wasn't enough for me."

"Oh honey," she whispered, leaning against me.

"When he asked to kiss me, I thought he was joking and I didn't even know I was nodding until suddenly I was against a wall. Everything burned, Kylie. Like, you know I've kissed a few people before and I felt nothing but this time it was like everything was changing."

"In a way, it was," she said.

"Yeah," I said with a laugh.

"So what are you going to do now?" I could sense she was worried. She had spent many sleepovers planning our futures together and she always shut down when I asked how my match would play into it.

"Get a degree, for now. I love my grandma, but I don't want to become her. The best thing that ever happened to her was my grandpa. I want to make myself happy."

"But, like, are you and Jake a thing now?"

"I guess. I mean, it's not like we could go and date other people knowing what we know," I said, knowing this did little to ease her worries. "But, I'll always have time for you. I'm not going to cut you out."

"I won't let you," she teased.

"Is it cool if I go over to Jake's dorm and meet some of his friends?" I asked as she got up.

"Only if I can still help you get ready," she replied.

It took about thirty minutes of bickering over which colors went with which colors before we were both satisfied with the way I looked. I didn't mind, though – I knew it helped her to feel like seeing colors wasn't a complete curse.

I ended up wearing a simple pink sundress and some red flats – I was proud to finally associate some names with actual colors. I walked across the circle of dorms as the sun was just starting to set, and seeing colors was absolutely surreal still.

One of the people who walked past me looked absolutely ridiculous. Although I did not know the names to describe the colors she was wearing all I could say was that she definitely did not look good and I wished I had time to help her.

Jake's dorm ended up being on the top floor of his building, and his door was already open when I arrived. He quickly pulled me into a hug once he saw me, and apologized for the music down the hall.

"Some seniors are having a party to celebrate, well, the Friday," he explained. I laughed and turned my attention to the small, dorky student next to Rosa on one of the two beds.

"You must be Charles," I said with a smile, which he returned.

"Yes, and you're Amy. We had a class together on Wednesday."

"Really? Sorry, I barely seem to notice my classmates," I explained with a laugh. Jake took a seat on the empty bed and yanked me down with him.

"You noticed me," he teased, lacing our fingers together.

"Not in class, though," I defended.

"You guys are gross," Rosa groaned.

"They just found out today, give them a break," Charles argued. It was hard to imagine the two of them together. She was tall, mysterious and frankly, hot as hell. He was short and dorky with a touch of nerdy.

"You didn't have to listen to him talk about her pretty much every moment since they bumped into each other," she hissed. I looked over at Jake, and he just rubbed the back of his neck with an apologetic smile.

"Anyways, we've got to head out. I've finally got us a reservation at this local restaurant that ferments its own cheese and if I pay extra they'll take us on a tour of their process," Charles explained, sensing that Jake and I needed to talk. They shuffled out quickly and shut the door behind them.

"You talked about me?" I asked softly after just looking at him for a second.

"Well, yeah, I kind of had a hunch." He laid back on his bed, looking at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" I pressed, just looking at him.

"Okay," he sighed. "You know that I kind of went crazy a while back trying to find my soulmate?"

"Yes, you touched a lot of people," I replied.

"Okay, well, I did a lot of research. I read a lot of stories from people who had found their match and it was always 'love at first sight' or something like that. When I saw you, I knew I needed to talk to you. You were simply one the most enticing people I'd ever seen, and you were so, so beautiful.

"I pretended that I had no idea where my dorm was because there was a one in four chance that you were an upperclassman and a pretty large chance that you had a dorm near mine," he continued.

"So you already knew where it was? Why didn't you have any boxes?"

"I came for orientation, and I poked around then," he explained. I laughed a little, but let him continue.

"And then after that, there were just all these signs. We ended up sitting next to each other at the bonfire – which just could've been because I'm devilishly handsome and you can't resist me, but I digress. You also said you were interested in like, detective work or whatever, and then we both had headaches while apart.

"That happens sometimes – it's called the 'mates' ache,' and it occurs when you were in close enough proximity to meet your soul mate but you weren't lucky enough to make contact. I knew then that I had to touch you and I had to know if it was all just a coincidence or something more."

I looked at him, my perception of him changing immensely.

"I think I have underestimated you," I told him.

"What do you mean?"

"I just never thought you'd put that much effort into something. Why'd you talk to Rosa about me, though?"

"She may seem distant but she does care about helping. I told her I thought I had found my soul mate, and she was willing to just listen to me rattle on and on and everything like that." He sat up and looked at me. "Did you really have no clue?"

"I mean, I was aware that we hadn't touched and I knew I felt differently towards you than I had anyone else but I guess I had just cast it off as wistful thinking."

"Aw, Ames," he said, leaning towards me. "You wanted me."

"That's so vulgar," I said, shoving his face away playfully.

"Admit it, you would have disappointed if we weren't soulmates."

"Maybe not," I said with a wry smile. He leaned closer to me again, and our foreheads touched.

"Admit it," he whispered, the mood of the room suddenly changing.

"No," I said softly.

"I would have been," he said, putting a hand on my cheek. I melted a little at the touch, secretly impressed at how quickly he could change the mood from playful into sexual.

"Because your match wasn't me or because you hadn't found your match?" I asked quietly, closing my eyes.

"Because it wasn't you," he said, kissing me quickly. "I would have gladly waited a few more decades if I knew what I'd get out of it."

I have always been pretty modest and non-vocal about my desires, but in that moment I pretty much attacked him. We didn't go very far – just some very passionate making out and a little touching here and there. After we had both grown tired, we just laid there together like we had known each other for years.


	6. Impromptu Picnic

Jake and I woke up together on Saturday morning, taking notice of his roommate. He was now passed out, halfway on his bed. Even worse, he was wearing nothing except a pair of jeans around his ankles, which he had obviously attempted to take off.

"Jesus fuck," Jake mumbled, throwing a towel over his roommate's bare ass. "He went to that party last night."

I just stared, and slowly backed out of the room. Jake changed rather quickly, and we headed off to my dorm. My roommate was obviously in better shape than Jake's – she was ready for the day and quietly doing her homework on her bed.

"Did you guys sleep together?" she asked as we walked in.

"Yes, absolutely," he bragged.

"As in, the same bed," I defended, blushing. "Not, like, sex." I grabbed a fresh change of clothes and my toiletry basket before heading off to the bathroom.

Five minutes later, I was glad to feel fresh and happy to see my best friend and my match talking happily in my room. He was sitting on my bed, holding Jorge as she told him our 'plan' for the future.

"So we're definitely moving into a city, like New York," she explained. "We have to live near each other too, like if you take her away I will throw you in the ocean."

I claimed the seat next to Jake, and he threw an arm around me.

"Also, I claim godmother-ship to your first child," she said bluntly.

"So, Amy and I are having kids?"

"Yes. Enough for both Amy and I."

"I didn't know I was having kids," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I just decided."

"That's gonna hurt," I mumbled.

"Name of your sex tape," Jake exclaimed, smiling proudly when I looked at him.

"You're so gross," I said, shoving him from me.

"Worth it."

"Anyways," Kylie said. "Do you want to learn your colors now or do you want to wait?"

"Now is fine," I said excitedly.

"What's this color called?" he asked as he held up my stuffed bear.

"Jorge is purple."

"And you still haven't told me what color my sheets are," I reminded her.

"They're yellow," she said with a smile. I grinned at Jake, noticing he already had a similar expression.

Memorizing the names of colors seemed simple enough, but then Kylie threw in some color theory and that took a little longer. There was a whole wheel dedicated to this, and colors opposite each other mixed to make brown and didn't look good together. Then there were hues and shades and all these other complications.

Jake was strangely very focused on this. His brows furrowed adorably as he stared at his notes of all the rules Kylie was telling us.

"So, what're your guys' favorite colors?" Kylie asked, folding her hands.

"Yellow," I said, without a second thought. "It's so warm I want to wrap myself up in it forever."

"I like red," Jake told us with a grin. "It can mean many different things and it's so versatile."

I appreciated that he took this seriously and had actually paid attention to my best friend.

"I'm glad you guys liked this," she said. "Thank you for listening."

* * *

"Want to go on a picnic for dinner?" Jake prompted, looking up at me with those beautiful brown eyes.

"You know I'd love to," I told him. "Is this a date, though?"

"Of course," he said with a smile.

"You know all those movies were soulmates meet and they're really awkward together and decide to just not date and go their separate ways?"

"What about them?" he asked as his face fell.

"I just always thought the decision to stay would be a lot harder than it has been," I told him, kissing his forehead.

Currently, we had been holed up in my room watching Netflix and just getting to know each other. The biggest difference between us was that I was a lot more modest and way shier about sex than he was. Other than that, it was obvious to us that we were made for each other.

I had gotten up to stretch my legs, and he remained perched on my bed.

"Are you wanting to leave now or later?"

"Obviously now. Let's watch the sunset together," he declared, pulling me down for a kiss.

We grabbed an old blanket and headed for the quad to get some food for our spontaneous picnic. We settled on Chinese, and he practically ran to the lake.

"Why are you so excited about this?" I pressed.

"Well, yesterday was the first sunset we could've seen in color but we both were busy. We can watch this sunset together and tell the hundreds of kids we'll have together."

"Hundreds?" I asked, scrunching up my nose.

"Yes, a few hundred for us, and a few hundred for Kylie."

"Gross," I said with a laugh. "Imagine how nasty our house is going to be."

"It'll be fine as long as you're there," he explained and set out the blanket.

"Whatever you say."

After we had settled and distributed the food, he grew silent for a while.

"You know," he started. "I really am glad that you're my soulmate."

"I think all soulmates are happy with their matches. Isn't that the point?"

"I guess so," he said, scowling a little.

"I'm glad you're my soulmate, too," I said, criticizing myself for being so defensive for no reason.

He smiled down at his food, and we had a wonderful time watching the sun dip below the horizon.

"I really had no idea the sky changed this much," I confessed to him.

"I'd read about it, but I guess words constantly fail," he observed.

I looked at him and a feeling deep in my gut told me that this was going to be the happiest I'd ever be - which was extremely bittersweet.


End file.
